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Treasury Targets Money Exchange Houses for Supporting the Taliban

6/29/2012

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Action Targets Terrorist Financing Linked to
Hawalas

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today
designated two exchange houses, the Haji Khairullah Haji Sattar Money Exchange
(HKHS) and the Roshan Money Exchange (RMX), which principally operate in
Afghanistan and Pakistan, pursuant to the U.S. government’s terrorism sanctions
authority, Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, for storing or moving money for the
Taliban. Treasury is also designating the co-owners of HKHS, Haji Abdul Sattar
Barakzai and Haji Khairullah Barakzai, pursuant to E.O. 13224 for donating
money and providing financial services to the Taliban. Both HKHS and RMX operate
as hawalas and have been used by the Taliban to facilitate money transfers in
support of the Taliban’s narcotics trade and terrorist operations. Today
the United Nations also added Haji Abdul Sattar Barakzai, Haji Khairullah
Barakzai, HKHS and RMX to its 1988 List of individuals, groups, undertakings
and entities associated with the Taliban in constituting a threat to the peace,
stability and security of Afghanistan.

“Today’s action,
which coincides with action by the UN, is aimed at disabling two key financial
hubs supporting the Taliban. Whether financial support to the Taliban
moves through banks or less formal mechanisms, like the hawalas we are
designating in this action, we will continue to work alongside our partners to
expose and disrupt this illicit financial activity,” said Under Secretary for
Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen.

As a result of
today’s action, all property in the United States or in the possession or
control of U.S. persons in which HKHS, RMX, Haji Abdul Sattar Barakzai
(Sattar), or Haji Khairullah Barakzai (Khairullah) have an interest is blocked,
and U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

Haji Abdul Sattar
Barakzai

Haji Abdul Sattar
Barakzai is being designated today for owning, or controlling HKHS, and for
providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial, or
other services to, or in support of, the Taliban. Sattar is a co-owner
and operator of HKHS. Sattar and Khairullah have co-owned and jointly
operated hawalas known as HKHS throughout Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Dubai and
managed an HKHS branch in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. As of
late 2009, Sattar and Khairullah had an equal partnership in HKHS. Sattar
founded HKHS and customers chose to use HKHS in part because of Sattar’s and
Khairullah’s well-known names.

Sattar has donated
thousands of dollars to the Taliban to support Taliban activities in
Afghanistan and has distributed funds to the Taliban using his hawala. As
of 2010, Sattar provided financial assistance to the Taliban. As of late
2009, Sattar provided tens of thousands of dollars to aid the Taliban’s fight
against Coalition Forces in Marjah, Nad’Ali District, Helmand Province,
Afghanistan, and helped to transport a Taliban member to Marjah. As of
2008, Sattar and Khairullah collected money from businessmen and distributed
the funds to the Taliban using their hawala.

Haji Khairullah
Barakzai

Haji Khairullah
Barakzai is being designated today for owning or controlling HKHS, and for
providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial, or
other services to, or in support of, the Taliban. Khairullah is a
co-owner and operator of HKHS. As of late 2009, Khairullah and Sattar had
an equal partnership in HKHS. They jointly operated hawalas known as HKHS
throughout Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Dubai and managed an HKHS branch in the
Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. As of early 2010, Khairullah was the
head of the HKHS branch in Kabul.

As of 2010,
Khairullah was a hawaladar, or hawala operator, for Taliban senior leadership
and provided financial assistance to the Taliban. Khairullah, along with
his business partner Sattar, provided thousands of dollars to the Taliban to
support Taliban activities in Afghanistan. As of 2008, Khairullah and
Sattar collected money from businessmen and distributed the funds to the
Taliban using their hawala.

Haji Khairullah
Haji Sattar Money Exchange (HKHS)

Haji Khairullah Haji
Sattar Money Exchange (HKHS) is being designated today for providing financial,
material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to, or
in support of, the Taliban. HKHS is co-owned by Haji Abdul Sattar
Barakzai and Haji Khairullah Barakzai. Sattar and Khairullah have jointly
operated money exchanges throughout Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and the United
Arab Emirates (UAE). Taliban leaders have used HKHS to disseminate money
to Taliban shadow governors and commanders and to receive hawala transfers for the
Taliban.

As of 2011, HKHS was
a preferred method for Taliban leadership to transfer money to Taliban
commanders in Afghanistan. In late 2011, the HKHS branch in Lashkar Gah,
Helmand Province, Afghanistan was used to send money to the Taliban shadow
governor for Helmand Province. In mid-2011, a Taliban commander used an
HKHS branch in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region to fund fighters and
operations in Afghanistan. After the Taliban deposited a significant amount of
cash monthly with this HKHS branch, Taliban commanders could access the funds
from any HKHS branch. Taliban personnel used HKHS in 2010 to transfer
money to hawalas in Afghanistan, where operational commanders could access the
funds. As of late 2009, the manager of the HKHS branch in Lashkar Gah
oversaw the movement of Taliban funds through HKHS.

Roshan Money
Exchange

Roshan Money
Exchange (RMX) is being designated today for providing financial, material, or
technological support for, or financial, or other services to, or in support of,
the Taliban. RMX stores and transfers funds in support of Taliban
military operations and the Taliban’s role in the Afghan narcotics trade.
As of 2011, RMX was one of the primary hawalas used by Taliban officials in
Helmand Province.

In 2011, a senior
Taliban member withdrew hundreds of thousands of dollars from an RMX branch in
the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region to distribute to Taliban shadow
provincial governors. To fund the Taliban’s spring offensive in 2011, the
Taliban shadow governor of Helmand Province sent hundreds of thousands of
dollars to RMX. Also in 2011, a Taliban member received tens of thousands
of dollars from RMX to support military operations. An RMX branch in the
Afghanistan-Pakistan border region also held tens of thousands of dollars to be
collected by a Taliban commander. In 2010, on behalf of the Taliban
shadow governor of Helmand Province, a Taliban member used RMX to send
thousands of dollars to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.

The RMX branch in
Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, has been used by the Taliban to transfer funds
for operations to Helmand Province. In 2011, a Taliban sub-commander
transferred tens of thousands of dollars to a Taliban commander through the RMX
branch in Lashkar Gah. The Taliban also sent funds to the RMX branch in
Lashkar Gah for distribution to Taliban commanders in 2010. Also in 2010,
a Taliban member used RMX to send tens of thousands of dollars to Helmand
Province and Herat Province, Afghanistan, on behalf of the Taliban shadow
governor of Helmand Province.

In 2009, a senior
Taliban representative collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from an RMX
branch in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region to finance Taliban military
operations in Afghanistan. In 2008, a Taliban leader used RMX to transfer
tens of thousands of dollars to Afghanistan.

The Taliban also
uses RMX to facilitate its role in the Afghan narcotics trade. As of
2011, Taliban officials, including the shadow governor of Helmand Province,
transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars from an RMX branch in the
Afghanistan-Pakistan border region to hawalas in Afghanistan for the purchase
of narcotics on behalf of Taliban officials. Also in 2011, a Taliban
official directed Taliban commanders in Helmand Province to transfer opium
proceeds through RMX. One Taliban district chief transferred thousands of
dollars from Marjah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan to an RMX branch in the
Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.